BBS

[namlive]

I am against the BBS system used at SRS. Most of the "observations" are worthless and table-topped just to get numbers and parking spaces. In ten years in the program I have seen maybe a half dozen done correctly.

BBS teaches that workers are stupid and cause accidents. It blames the worker. The original study on which BBS was based claimed workers who got injured were of a low class. When you blame the worker for every type of accident by falling back on, "they needed to be more aware of their surroundings" i.e. meaning there were hazards in the area the plant didn't want to address, you get an atmosphere were accidents are simply NOT reported, so de facto you get a better safety record.  We used to have one cooking type accident a month. Since BBS started blaming people, that number has gone to zero.

BBS should have been insituted first with managers. They should have been taught that their ignoring bad safety practices makes them responsible for accidents. Then at that point BBS is introduced to the workers. BBS observations should be mandatory and assigned to every job to be done effectively. SRS did NOT use the original BBS system used effectively by P&G, but rather they bought a modified plan from DuPont, who they in turn pay to see how effective is their safety program.  Try to guess the results of that?

It is not that management doesn't know this. I have written up 4 pages of how the system doesn't work using specific examples here at SRS. I have given this information to multiple levels of management, including Munns when he was here.  As long as they have the numbers and don't have to address safety issues which cost money, they are happy.

[Already Gone]

It really burns my but when I hear that "situational awareness" is the preventative measure that should be - or should have been - taken.

The General Duty Clause, and the CFR sections that back it up, require that the workplace be free of known hazards.  They DO NOT provide an exception to this duty as long as the employees are aware of the hazards.

This goes in my file along with "just be careful".  Situational awareness is just nuclear speak for "just be careful".  Both phrases are the last resort of a management that has failed to remove hazards and provide protection against those that couldn't be removed.

Read into this, and it really means "we aren't going to make your work safe, but try to keep from getting hurt anyway"

Real BBS has to be founded upon a workplace that is safe, with procedures to ensure it stays safe, and management support to ensure that the procedures are followed.  The observations should be done by the workers as well as management.  They should ask only, "did management provide effective training and appropriate safety measures?" and "did the workers use those measures as they were trained?"

Everything beyond that is fluff.